Broken Silence
by LifeisPinkisLife
Summary: After a long hiatus, season 4 of Pretty Little Liars is in full swing. After a tragic death of a loved one, Ian struggles to open up to Lucy Hale, one of his best friends. Can Lucy help Ian get through this difficult stage in his life? Can Ian help with with something Lucy is silently dealing with?
1. Chapter 1

**Broken Silence**

**CHAPTER 1**

When Lucy Hale pulled into her usual parking space at Warner Brother's Studios, she couldn't help but feel at home. As she stepped out of her relatively new Red Mini Cooper, she took in one large breath and let the Californian air inflate her lungs. It was definitely nice to be back to the place she knew as home for six months of the year, and she couldn't wait to see what Season 4 had to bring.

Over the course of the hiatus, Lucy had spent most of her time in Texas recording her very first album. It was always Lucy's dream to be a singer, and it was only by chance that her career had been built from acting. Not that she didn't love acting – she did, but she was enjoying working on something different for a change.

Lucy released her album mid March, and even though a whole month had passed since the release date, she was still getting texts, emails and tweets from family, friends and fans about how much they loved her music. She even got a text from her ex-boyfriend; Chris Zylka, who told her that he _"always knew she'd be a singer someday" _and that he was _"extremely proud of her"_. Chris' words meant nothing to Lucy however, and she decided not to reply to him in case she gave the boy any false impressions.

Her co-stars were also extremely supportive about the album. Fans had suspected there was tension between Lucy, Ashley and Shay, but that was a total misunderstanding. Ashley and Shay could not have been more excited to buy Lucy's album, sending pictures to Lucy of each of them posing with Lucy's face on the cover of the CDs they'd bought, and they couldn't have been more proud. Troian was also super supportive, along with most of the other cast and crew members. Marlene, Oliver, Keegan, Tyler were among the countless messages she had received from her work colleagues.

There was one person however, who she hadn't heard from over the break, one person who she was surprised not to hear from. Ian Harding, someone who Lucy considered a highly valued friend, had not seen or been in contact with Lucy since they wrapped season 3. The only time Ian mentioned Lucy was that time on twitter when he confirmed that the two were still friends, and even so, that was in February, two months ago. Lucy didn't understand why he was able to confirm the pair's friendship, but not able to make contact with her for six months.

* * *

Excited to embrace a hard day's work, Lucy made her way to the trunk of her car when someone tipped her on the back. Lucy jumped, but was relieved to see it was Julian Morris and not some crazy stalker that they sometimes found foolishly wandering around the parking lot.

"Julian!" Lucy exclaimed while giving the British man a hug. "How the hell have you been?"

"I've been really good, thanks." Julian replied. "I'm just home from England." Lucy's grin widened at Julian's expression of happiness every time he talked about home. She loved how much it meant to her co-stars when they were reunited with friends and families. She loved nothing more than seeing other people happy.

"Did you enjoy your time at home?" Lucy asked as the pair started walking into the building. "Did you get much snow?"

"I had a blast!" Julian told Aria in what he thought was his best American accent. "I got to spend time with Victoria which was lovely." Victoria was Julian's girlfriend who he had been with for 3 years now. In Lucy's eyes, they were champions at long-distance relationships. Being over almost 4,750 miles away from each other for at least 6 months every year never put any strain on their relationship, and Lucy wished some day she would find love like Julian did.

"Adorable!" Lucy squealed while almost dropping her bags. She was a sucker for romance.

"I wonder if Ian will be here today." Julian changed the subject, which led to a confused Lucy.

"He will be. He's in episode 4x01" She answered. She wasn't sure why Julian was questioning Ian's presence on set today.

"Didn't you hear?" Julian asked hesitantly, clearly contemplating if he should say something or not.

"Didn't I hear what?" Lucy raised an eyebrow. She was now regretting her bitching sessions with Annie about what a terrible friend Ian was.

"Ian's brother passed away on Thursday." Julian regretfully told Lucy, putting his head down towards the ground. He wasn't sure which was more upsetting; the fact that Ian didn't tell Lucy or the fact that everyone knew but Lucy. It was now Monday, which was why Julian wasn't sure if Ian would be on set.

"Hi-His brother died?" Lucy was shocked. She suddenly felt bad for the past two months she spent moaning because Ian never congratulated her on her album. "How – What – Was he sick?" Lucy was struggling to get words out. She had met Ian's brother once, and even though he was seven years younger than Ian, the two were like best friends.

Julian took a huge gulp, trying to figure out why Ian had told Lucy nothing. He then thought that maybe Ian should tell Lucy himself, and that it wasn't his place to tell Lucy something Ian obviously preferred not to tell her.

"I think you need to let him explain it to you, Lucy." Julian felt awkward now. He was extremely shocked that Ian hadn't told Lucy anything. He knew that the two were shockingly close as friends.

"I can't believe this." Lucy admitted while shaking her head. "I have to call him."

Lucy reached into the pocket of her dark wash Abercrombie skinny jeans and took out her iPhone. As she dialled Ian's number, she couldn't help but let her eyes fill with tears knowing that Ian had to go through something awful like this without her. She knew he had Sophia, but she also knew he would've needed a friend there too, something which Ian would never call Sophia.

While Lucy waited for Ian to pick up, she could hear the faintest noise coming from across the parking lot. She turned around; realising that the noise was hearing was the sound of Ian's ringtone playing. She touched _"end call"_ on her iPhone, before slowly walking over to what looked like a broken Ian.

When Ian got closer, she could almost feel the pain that could be seen in his eyes. He looked exhausted, and she wasn't sure how to treat the situation.

"Ian!" She cried as they met each other's path. She put her arms around him, wanting to do nothing but hold him in her arms at that moment, but Ian was fragile and you could tell he was in no mood for a pity party. He released himself from the embrace, which somewhat shocked Lucy.

"Hey Luce!" He greeted her, sniffling away the tears he was trying so very hard to hide. He was trying his damn best to put on a brave face, but the quiver in his lip showed that he wasn't good at acting under pressure. "Did you have a good hiatus?" Ian had absolutely no hint of emotion in his tone.

"Come here" Lucy ignored Ian's small talk motioned for him to give her a hug, but Ian wasn't the type to let people feel sorry for him.

"We're going to be late, table read starts in 5 minutes." Ian informed the 5"2 brunette while walking ahead. Once he had his back to her, he wiped the few tears that had fallen from his face away with his jumper, hoping that Lucy wouldn't notice that he was crying, but she did.

"You know you don't have to go through this alone?" Lucy shouted after Ian, but he kept walking, keeping his right sleeve up to his eyes, wanting to be prepared for any more tears that would probably fall from his blue eyes.

As the whole cast and crew were finally seated and ready to start the table read for 4x01, everyone was in high spirits – except for Ian. Lucy sat across from him, and she couldn't help but stare at the person who lacked emotion. Ian was breaking Lucy's heart by shutting her out.

"Welcome back, everyone!" Marlene King greeted her second family with a smile on her face while Ian shuffled in his seat. "Season 4 is going to be CRAZY. We have some huge story lines coming up, and we can expect to get some pretty huge reactions from our crazed fans on twitter."

"Do you mean crazier than that girl pllquotetumblr's reaction to the ezria kiss in 2x02?" Keegan Allen shouted across the room. The entire room filled with giggles, coming from everyone except Lucy and Ian. "She even had her mom watching it!"

"Or crazier than the girl who most likely tweeted Spanish curse words at us for making Ezra have a son?" Oliver Goldstick laughed. "What was her name, Elisa?"

"You cannot forget about HaleForeverxx's reaction to the Aria and Wes kiss!" Lucy reminded the group. "She said she was going to eat her dog's food if 'Wesria' happened" . Everyone was laughing except for Ian, he continued to stare at the table he sat at, in a deep trance.

"Not one of my finest moments as a writer!" Oliver Goldstick laughed off something he really regretted doing. The Aria/Wes kiss had created such a stir on twitter, something which was difficult for the writers to deal with. "Don't worry Lucy, Aria won't be kissing any more brothers for a while"

As Lucy giggled, she noticed Ian had come out of his trance. Oliver's comment to Lucy had unintentionally hurt Ian. He quickly stood up from his chair and left the room, and it suddenly hit Lucy that anything to do with the word _brother_ was probably a bit much for him to deal with right now.

"Should I go after him?" Shay suggested to Marlene, but Marlene shook her head and looked straight to Lucy.

"I think Lucy should deal with this one." Marlene was right. Although Ian hadn't told Lucy about his brother's death, Marlene knew that Lucy was the one of the only ones who could get through to him.

Lucy left the room and headed in the direction Ian went in. It was time for Ian to open up to Lucy.

* * *

**MY FIRST LUCIAN STORY. **

**WHAT DO YOU THINK?**

**I NEED REVIEWS. REVIEWS ARE MY DRUG. Haha!**

**I really hoped you enjoyed it! A big thank you to Becca, Waverly and Disha for some guidance with this story and to Pllquotetumblr, Elisagiraldol and HaleForeverxx for letting me use them as crazed fans. **

**If you want to be a part of the story or if you have any ideas, let me know what you think. But don't read the story without reviewing – silly gooses ;)**

**I can't promise when my next update will be, I'm swamped with homework and I lost ALL my college notes, so it could be next week, but I promise there'll be an update. Stay with me.**

**Love, Becky! xo**


	2. Chapter 2

Ian was fragile. When Lucy found him, he was sitting in the corner of the disabled bathroom with his knees tightly pulled into his face. Lucy waited for awhile before confronting him. She gazed at him, slowly taking in his distraught state. He knew she was standing there, but he refused to lift his head up and acknowledge her presence. Instead, he kept his face planted on his knees, sobbing once every few seconds. Lucy had never seen Ian so hurt.

After a very slow sixty seconds of standing in the door way, Lucy finally decided to approach a broken Ian. She walked over to him, placed herself down beside him and inched closer to him for comfort. Ian didn't budge, remaining still as a statue. Lucy felt for Ian. All she wanted to do was to embrace him and tell him it was going to be okay, but talking to Ian was probably the best and only option there was.

"Ian?" Lucy called softly. Ian finally looked up, revealing his red, puffy eyes. She had never seen him cry before, so this was all new territory for Lucy. Ian stared deep into her eyes before falling into her arms. Lucy gradually put her arms around him, letting the embrace become tighter as the seconds ticked by. After a few minutes, Ian removed himself from the hug and sat up.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to… uhh..." Ian stuttered. He wasn't sure what to call what just happened.

"It's ok, Ian. It's what I'm here for. I'm your friend, remember?" Lucy reminded him that she was there for him, and that he didn't have to act as if everything was ok when it wasn't.

"Thanks, Luce." Ian smiled at her while trying to remove himself from the bathroom floor, but Lucy stopped him.

"Are you okay?" Lucy asked him searching for an honest answer even though she already knew the response. "Why did you run out of there?" Ian sat back down and finally began to open up to Lucy.

"It's pretty obvious that you already know what happened, Luce."

"I do…" Lucy admitted. "But I didn't hear it from you. I heard it from Julian. Do you know how worried I was about you? And to see you run out of the room like that… I just… I just wish you would've told me. I thought we told each other everything?"

"Lucy…" Ian began to confide in Lucy. "I have never felt this sort of pain in my life. I lost not only my brother, but one of my best friends, and I'm not quite sure how to deal with that." Lucy knew that although she and Ian were extremely close, she couldn't get too close without the fear of Sophia, Ian's girlfriend, getting uncomfortable with how tightly bonded the two were.

"I understand…" Lucy began. "I can't say I know how you're feeling because something like this has never happened to me, but I do understand. I could've been there for you at the funeral, I could've been there for you this past week, I was only a phone call away."

"I didn't want to interrupt the last few days of the hiatus for you." Ian lied. He really just didn't want Sophia to assume that he could open up to Lucy more than he could to her.

"Lies!" Lucy exclaimed. "If what you're saying is true then our friendship has been a lie these past three years." Ian was well aware that Lucy was totally right and he was unsure how long he could pretend like the inevitable wasn't true.

"Okay, fine!" Ian ultimately decided to tell the truth. "The truth is; I wanted to call you. I wanted to ring you and I wanted you to travel to Virginia and give me one of the biggest hugs you've ever given. I needed you there to tell me that things were going to be okay, that things were going to get better. But I couldn't do any of that because…." Lucy cut him off.

"Because what?" Lucy demanded passionately. There was always chemistry between Lucy and Ian, but after not having seen each other for months, there was now even more passion than usual.

"Because of Sophia!" Ian cried. "The reality is; if I called you, Sophia would have figured out what I've been hiding from her for the last three years. Sophia would have figured out that I would much rather have had you there instead of her. She would have realised how much easier it is for me to talk to you rather than her." Lucy astoundingly wasn't shocked by what Ian had to say. She would be lying if she said there was no romantic chemistry between her and Ian, and ever since she broke up with her ex boyfriend; Chris Zylka, she had been more attracted to Ian than ever before. She pondered her thoughts for awhile before speaking, but in actuality she had no idea what to say.

"I'm sorry." Ian spoke again, trying to process what he had just said. "I didn't mean to announce my thoughts out loud." Lucy smiled at Ian, secretly delighted having just heard Ian confess his feelings to her.

"Well…" Lucy began. "We're both here now. Why don't we forget that anyone else exists for just a few moments? I might not have been with you in Virginia last week, but I'm here with you now." Ian complied and allowed Lucy to nest into his arms. Lucy rested her head on Ian's chest, both of them enjoying the moment.

Ian looked down into Lucy's hazel eyes. "Thank you for being here for me." He told her.

"Like I said, it's what I'm here for." Lucy reminded him. She peered into his eyes, almost forgetting that she was sitting in a disabled toilet and not in some romantic location. Ian then little by little moved his head in towards hers. Lucy did the same until finally their lips met. The kiss was just a peck at first, Ian releasing his lips from Lucy's before making sure it was ok with her to continue. With permission granted, Ian then leaned in for more. Their lips gently moved together as one, Lucy bringing her right hand up to his face as Ian interlinked his fingers with the fingers on Lucy's free hand. The moment was perfect and Lucy and Ian were in no hurry to get back to the table read.

* * *

Thirty minutes had passed and there was still no sign of the return of Lucy or Ian. Marlene decided not to go on with the table read until Lucy and Ian had returned, but she hadn't expected them to be gone for so long.

The cast and crew were gathered in little groups talking about various different things. The whereabouts of Lucy and Ian was the main topic of discussion, and this was no exception for Troian, Keegan and Julian's conversation.

"How long have they been gone for?" Keegan asked. Keegan had always "shipped" Lucy and Ian, but he had no idea what was going outside the doors of the table read room.

"I don't know… I guess it's been around thirty minutes now." Julian guessed. "Ian is in a bad way so I guess he finally decided to open up to Lucy."

"What do you mean _finally opened up to Lucy_?" Troian asked. Both Keegan and Troian were unaware that Ian hadn't told Lucy about the death of his brother.

"Well when I asked Lucy if she thought Ian would be on set today, she looked at me as if I was crazy. Then I asked her had she not heard about Ian to which she replied no… so then I had to tell her."

"Ian didn't tell Lucy?" Keegan was dazed. "They have the closest relationship out of any of us on the set… how could he not tell her?"

"Sophia…" Troian blurted out. Most of the cast wanted Lucy and Ian to be together, and ever since the breakup between Lucy and Chris, Sophia was the only thing standing in the way of a possible romance for Lucy and Ian.

"Ahh!" Julian awed in his British accent. "The famous Sophia. What a cockblocker!"

"I know, right?" Keegan agreed. "She is literally the only thing standing between Lucian uniting."

"Lucian?" Troian wasn't on twitter much so she wasn't aware of Lucy and Ian's blended name. The boys rolled their eyes to the heavens at Troian's confusion and with Troian being about as knowledgeable as Google, she figured the blend out pretty quickly.

"What has Sophia got to do with Ian not telling Lucy anyway?" Julian asked.

"Ian told me that Sophia gets incredibly jealous of his close relationship with Lucy, so I guess he didn't tell Lucy in fear of Sophia breaking up with him." Keegan informed Julian of his presumptions.

"Like that would be a bad thing…" Julian mumbled. Keegan laughed but was interrupted by Marlene making an announcement.

"We need to get this show on the road…" Marlene began. "We'll go through the scenes that Lucy and Ian aren't in until they get back and…" Marlene was cut off by Lucy walking back into the room – with Ian.

"That won't be necessary!" Lucy told Marlene as she took her seat. She had a massive grin on her face that went from ear to ear. Ian too had perked up since leaving the room, everyone noticing how happy he was as he took his seat.

"Are you ok to be here, Ian?" Marlene asked him. She had no idea what Lucy had said or done, but whatever it was certainly worked.

"Yeah, I'm good to continue." Ian told Marlene. "I just want to say thanks for everyone's support over the last week. It's been incredible. I'm sorry for running out like a child earlier."

"It's understandable, dear." Marlene sympathised with Ian. "Feel free to take time off whenever you need to." Ian smiled at Marlene's kind words.

"Oh…" Ian then looked in the direction of Oliver Goldstick. "I didn't mean to make you feel like you'd upset me, Oliver. You hadn't."

"As long as you're ok then I have nothing to worry about." Oliver replied.

The table read for episode 4x01 finally was in full swing, but Lucy and Ian couldn't get what just happened between them off their minds. Lucy had to remember that Ian had a girlfriend while Ian had to remember that his feelings were Lucy were stronger than those for his girlfriend. Things were about to get extremely interesting.

* * *

_**A/N…. REVIEW FOR MORE. THE MORE REVIEWS I GET, THE QUICKER I'LL UPDATE! **_

_**Hope you're liking the story so far, I really want to know what you think of it, so let me know in the review box! **_

_**xo**_


	3. Chapter 3

Ian's mood had uplifted immensely since Lucy found him in the disabled toilets. Inside, the loss of his brother felt like a throbbing pain that took over his entire body, a pain that would just not ease, but on the outside, Ian was learning to put on a brave face. Strangely, Ian did not feel overly guilty about kissing Lucy. It felt right in that moment and he had always been taught to never regret the things that made him smile. That kiss with Lucy did not only make him smile, it sent shivers down his spine. In the two years he'd been dating Sophia, she had never been able to present Ian with that kind of emotion, which only made him wonder why he ended up with Sophia and not Lucy. Yes, Sophia was beautiful. Her eyes were the type of eyes that any guy would get lost in, but the difference between Sophia and Lucy's eyes was that when you got lost in Lucy's, you didn't want to be found. Ian knew where his feelings lay.

The table read for the first episode of Season 4 had gone on longer than anticipated. Lucy and Ian's thirty minute absence did contribute to the delay, but the enormous amount of questions from both cast and crew played a part too. Throughout its entirety, season 3 provided a lot more questions than it did answers, and it wasn't just the fans that were becoming confused. Marlene King feared this might happen, and so providing the cast and crew with the answers they needed did mean the table read finished quite late in the day.

Lucy and Ian, although incredibly content with what happened in the earlier hours of the day, had been dodging each other since the inevitable happened. Ian knew he needed to sort things out with Sophia before anything else happened with Lucy, and so, when Keegan, Julian, Shay and Lucy asked if he wanted to join them for dinner, he felt he had to refuse. He wasn't sure if he could keep his feelings for Lucy in check, and with the fear of the others finding out that he cheated on Sophia with Lucy, he had to say no.

"I am not taking no for an answer Ian Harding." Shay tugged on Ian's arm while pleading for him to join them for dinner. "You are coming with us and that's that."

"I can't." Ian replied. "I've got to get home to –"

"Sophia can wait." Lucy broke her silence as Keegan, Julian and Shay quietly gasped. They could sense the tension between Lucy and Ian. "I mean… we just haven't seen you in a long time." Ian stared deep into Lucy's eyes. He wondered why she was so desperate for him to come. Anything they had to discuss would have to be discussed in private.

"You know, I could do with a beer." Ian gave in to the dinner invitation. He wasn't sure if he was giving into the food and drink, or if he was giving into Lucy, but he did need a good night out. It had been a rough week for Ian, and he knew if he didn't go out with friends he'd only be going home and thinking about his brother. The idea of going home to Sophia wasn't very appealing either, and after such a hard week, he felt he could do with being surrounded by some friends.

"That's my boy!" Keegan high-fived Ian. "I'll call a taxi!"

* * *

Lucy, Ian, Keegan, Julian and Shay all made themselves comfortable in Samsara. Samsara was a restaurant/bar which turned into a nightclub later on in the evening. Ian knew Keegan was up for a long and messy night when he had suggested the place, but Ian was just planning on having dinner and a beer before he had to get home to Sophia. The memory of the kiss that he and Lucy shared earlier that day was still lingering in his mind, and with Lucy sitting opposite him at the table, the urge to lean over and kiss her was becoming increasingly harder to fight.

"What's everyone ordering?" Shay asked the group as she struggled to decide what to have.

"I think I'm going with the Calzone Pizza and Fries." Ian responded after taking a large sup of his beer. "Ooh and maybe I'll get the wings to start off with."

"You know what?" Keegan looked up at the group excitedly with a gigantic grin on his face. "I am going to order the steak." The revelation of Keegan's order did not excite the others like it excited Keegan.

"Why do you sound so excited about a steak?" Julian asked, laughing silently.

"Julian!" Keegan slammed the menu down on the table. "How could you not get excited about steak? And plus, the steak they serve here is so big and oh my god I just can't!"

"Slow down, Keegan." Shay giggled. "You're starting to sound like a fan girl!"

"That's what I was going for! Oh my god a steak oh my god ahhhh so many feels" The whole group chuckled at Keegan's imitation of a girl squealing over a steak, the whole group except Lucy.

"What are you having Lucy?" Shay asked, noticing her weird behaviour. Lucy looked over at Ian, who was on his phone before answering. He was typing furiously fast and she wondered could it be anyone but Sophia he was texting. She hated the fact that the kiss they shared probably meant nothing. He had a girlfriend, and she needed to remember that.

Lucy turned her focus back to Shay. "I think I'll just have a glass of white wine."

"Aren't you going to have something to eat?" Shay asked concerned. Lucy hadn't been eating properly over the last few weeks.

"I'm not hungry." Lucy replied, wanting to leave it at that.

"Are you sure?" Julian asked. "You haven't eaten all day!"

"I've got a bit of an iffy tummy. I'll be alright tomorrow." Lucy told them, looking down to the ground. She felt awkward for not eating anything, but only because what she thought was happening had happened before.

* * *

_Back in 2008, Lucy suffered from an eating disorder. It started off with Lucy telling herself that she wanted to be skinny like everyone else. Lucy was indeed skinny like everybody else, but she couldn't bring herself to believe that. She would go days without eating, or maybe she'd have a piece of fruit and then go to the gym for three hours. Her friends used to tell her how beautiful she was and how gorgeous her body was, but the distorted image that Lucy saw when she looked in the mirror told a different story. Lucy's poor eating habits worsened as time went on and it wasn't long before her family felt it was time that she got help. Lucy unwillingly entered rehabilitation for three months and it was there where she was diagnosed with Anorexia Nervosa. Despite all that was going on, Lucy was extremely brave. She did all she could to try to improve her eating habits. It took months, but Lucy finally began to make a recovery. The recovery process was slow, almost as slow as the anorexia itself developed, but about 6 months before they shot the pilot for Pretty Little Liars, Lucy had made a full recovery. _

_The number of people that knew about Lucy's eating disorder was very few. Going through something like that was something Lucy never wanted to go through again. The eating disorder had made her stronger as a person, but she hoped that she would never get to a stage in her life like that again. It was for this reason that none of her cast mates knew about Lucy's past. Not even Ian. Lucy felt it was better that way, because in Lucy's eyes, the less she thought about it, the less likely it was that she would go through something like that again._

* * *

"Alright then." Shay nodded, switching her attention back to the menu.

As Keegan, Julian, Shay and Ian ate their meals; Lucy sipped on her white wine. Lucy knew that drinking alcohol on an empty stomach was not a good idea, but she only intended on having one glass and then it would be water for the night. The conversation flowed freely over the course of the dinner, with Keegan, Shay and Julian doing most of the talking. Ian and Lucy contributed occasionally to the many different topics of conversation, but things were just becoming increasingly awkward for them as the night went on.

"$89.50!" Keegan exclaimed as he looked at his bill. "How can one person's bill be so damn pricey?"

Ian tittered while looking at the cocktail glasses sitting on Keegan's part of the table. "Maybe… just maybe… it's all those cocktails you drank?"

"I only had four!" Keegan admitted while trying to count the glasses on the table. He was clearly tipsy as there were definitely more than four cocktail glasses on the table. Ian wasn't completely sober either, though. He was already on his fourth beer. He only had one beer in mind when he arrived at Samsara, but with Keegan's help that quickly turned into four. Shay and Julian were both completely sober, while Lucy was still on her first glass of wine.

"You know what we should do?" Keegan raised his eyebrows as he waited for the group's attention. "GUYS! Do you know… what we should do?"

"What?" Lucy asked, hiccupping straight after. The wine was beginning to take effect on Lucy's empty stomach. "What should we do?"

"We should go to the club! It'll be so much fun!"

"Keegan." Shay frowned as her sober mind spoke. "We've all got an 8am call time tomorrow morning. Just because Toby is dead does not mean he is no longer part of the show."

"Who cares?" Keegan shouted while raising his shoulders up and down. "C'mon! We need a night of fun!"

"I'm totally up for it." Ian stood up. "It's just downstairs; we don't even need to leave the building!"

"Oh I don't know." Shay contemplated the idea of going to the club. She really did want to, but they were filming really early the next morning and she was only happy if she if she was running on more than eight hours sleeps.

"Oh Shaaaaaay" Keegan called as he ran around to her and picked her up. He put Shay on his shoulders and starting walking towards the club.

"Keegan!" Shay screamed. "Put me down."

"No!" Keegan laughed, walking into a pillar at the same time. "Oh shit! Ooooooh shit! That's got to be a bruise!" Keegan shouted. Shay giggled as he carried her down to the club, leaving Lucy, Ian and Julian in the bar.

"I'm going to call it a night here." Julian told Ian and Lucy, still chuckling at a drunken Keegan. He felt a flu coming on and figured it would be best to leave the shenanigans behind. "I'll see you guys in the morning. Don't stay out too late!"

Ian and Lucy both waved as Julian left the premises. They then looked at each other, each person waiting for the other to speak. Thankfully, Ian broke the silence and turned to Lucy.

"Why didn't you eat dinner?" Ian asked. Ian wasn't completely sober, but he was sober enough to know that Lucy was drinking on an empty stomach.

"Like I said, I have a bit of a dodgy stomach." Lucy replied, lying. They were still standing in the middle of the bar, minutes after Shay and Keegan had made their way to the club.

"Are you sure it's sensible to drink on an empty stomach?" Ian asked. Lucy began to laugh. She wasn't quite sure what she was laughing at, but she couldn't help but uncontrollably laugh.

"That wine has gone straight to your head, Luce." Ian laughed too. He thought it was hilarious how Lucy had gone from being silent over dinner to being in a sudden fit of laughter.

"_That wine has gone straight to your head, Luce." _Lucy mimicked Ian, leaving Ian trying his best not to laugh at her too much. It was only 11:24pm and Keegan and now possibly Lucy were already pretty tipsy.

"Are you mocking me?" He asked Lucy half-heartedly. "Because if you are, I too can carry you downstairs on my shoulders."

"Try me Mr. Harding." Lucy flirted contently with Ian. She motioned for him to pick her up and put her on his shoulders. Ian complied and put Lucy over his shoulders and carried her down to the club.

"You guys made it!" Keegan screeched loudly as he handed Lucy and Ian a drink. "Here's to season 4!"

"What is this?" Ian asked. The lights were extremely dim in the club, and he couldn't make out what the drink was.

"Vodka and orange!" Shay told them. It seemed as if Keegan had turned a sober Shay into a not so-sober Shay.

Lucy grabbed the drink out of Keegan's hand and took a huge sup of it. Ian watched on as Lucy drank the spirit. He was sober enough to know that it was not safe for Lucy to be drinking so much having not eaten all day.

"Luce!" Ian called as Lucy made her way to the dance floor. "Lucy, come back!"

"No!" Lucy refused to go back to where Ian was standing. "Come dance with me."

"Lucy, you need to stop drinking so much." Ian was now getting worried about Lucy. He turned to Keegan and Shay who were standing beside him. "We need to get her home."

"She's fine, bro!" Keegan tapped Ian on the shoulder and told him to relax. "She's having fun."

"Keegan, she hasn't eaten all day. I'm going to take her home."

"Don't be a party pooper!" Keegan whined, but Ian ignored him and went to get Lucy. As he approached Lucy, he noticed that she was struggling to keep her balance while dancing.

"Whoa whoa whoa. Okay, Ms. Hale" Ian grabbed her waist and led her from the dance floor. "It's time to get you home."

Lucy took Ian's hands off her waist so she could turn around and face him. She then reapplied his hands to her waist and started dancing with him.

"I'm Baby and you're Johnny." Lucy told Ian. Ian laughed a tiny bit at the Dirty Dancing reference, but he really just wanted to get her home.

"How about if you let me take you home, I'll ask Annie if she'll watch Dirty Dancing with you?" Ian was trying to talk some sense to her. Lucy had barely drunk anything, but without food in her system, there was nothing to soak up the alcohol, which made her very drunk very fast.

"How about you just shut up and let me kiss you?" Ian was taken aback by her suggestion, but she was too quick to let Ian react. She placed her arms around his neck and leaned into kiss Ian. Ian knew he should have retrieved from the kiss, but he couldn't bring himself to do so. He too leaned in until their lips met. The soft gentle kiss quickly turned passionate, as though they couldn't get enough of each other. It was as if to devour each other with their lips, mouths, and tongues would be the only way to express what they felt.

After over forty seconds of passionate kissing, Ian took a step back. He looked around in hope that Keegan and Shay hadn't seen. He couldn't see them, but that wasn't enough to satisfy Ian.

"Hey!" Lucy moaned. "Why did you stop kissing me? Am I not a good kisser?"

"Lucy, we can't do this. Not until I decide what I want to do with Sophia." Ian told her, but words meant nothing to Lucy now. She was too drunk.

Ian took Lucy's hand and left the club to bring Lucy home. He suddenly felt guilt rush through his body, guilt for so many reasons. He told himself he wouldn't kiss Lucy again until he'd broken up with Sophia, but resisting Lucy was like trying to pull magnets away from each other. It was impossible. Ian now had a lot of thinking to do.

* * *

_**A/N**_

_**I NEED TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK SO PLEASE REVIEW. I ALLOW GUEST REVIEWS. SO IF YOU READ, REVIEW. **_

_**Whoa! What a long chapter. I've never written a chapter this long before. It took me about 6 hours to write, so I really hope you enjoy it. Extremely happy with the response to this story so far, but reviews make it all the more better. I touched on something that's going to be a major storyline for this story which is Lucy's eating disorder. **_

_**I'll try update in the next couple of days. But in the meantime, REVIEW! **_

_**Also, I have read over this so there shouldn't be too many errors. But if there are, I do apologise. Enjoy, and thanks for reading. **_


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